


Little stick of a boy

by Side_effect_of_the_meds



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2020-07-19 10:30:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19972600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Side_effect_of_the_meds/pseuds/Side_effect_of_the_meds
Summary: Thea Muldani gave no fucks about Kevin Day when she first arrived at Evermore. Homegirl came to play. She was going to be THE BEST at what she did (isn’t she a backliner? Well, imma pretend that she is). She ain’t got no time to be messing with this little stick if a boy.





	Little stick of a boy

When the new crop of Ravens come in Riko and Kevin always meet them. Riko’s always a dick but Kevin tries to be nice the first day and when they’re not on the court. Riko has some business with Tetsuji to attend to so Kevin is alone at the gate when Thea arrives. He hears footsteps coming his way so he closes his history book and stands up to greet the new kid with a brilliant camera smile. He starts to say something only to be shouldered past. Thea Muldani gives no fucks about Kevin Day. He is not a God because of his home or his family, and she won’t treat him as such.

Kevin is pissed. No one has ever ignored him like that. Kevin tells Jean it doesn’t matter because there’s no way she’s any good anyway. Jean watches as Kevin chokes on those words when Thea is finally on the court. His laughter stops abruptly when he sees the starstruck look on Kevin’s face.

“Kevin,” he warned.

“You have to help me, Jean.”

“Yes. Help you snap out of this.”

“No!” Kevin hissed. “Please. You have to help me win her over.” Jean knows this a bad idea, but Kevin is his only friend and he loves him with his whole heart. Jean lets his head rest against the plexiglass and hears Kevin’s whoop of joy. Something in Jean’s heart breaks, but he tries to smile for Kevin.

Every day, Kevin is set to mark Thea. He wonders if it is fate’s cruel hand or Jean whispering in Riko’s ear. It doesn’t matter. Getting past Thea is almost impossible. She isn’t much taller than him, but she’s an absolute unit of a woman. She’s trucked into him so many times that his body is mottled with bruises. Usually, Riko would intervene (he doesn’t quite like sharing his toys), but he seems quite amused by Kevin’s torture. As Kevin limps off the court, Jean jogs past him to clack racquets with Thea. The two clean the court up together most nights. Some days, Kevin will hear her laughter ringing through the stadium. It’s not high and girly like the laughter of the girls he meets at parties, but nothing about Thea really is. She’s all sharp edges and angles, but she’s the most beautiful woman Kevin’s ever seen, be it in her exy gear or one of her ten thousand miniskirts.

It takes him a while but it seems that Jean’s been working his magic. Late one night, Thea shows up at Kevin’s door asking for help with her history paper. Kevin nearly dies on the spot. After the success of the first paper, Thea finds herself spending more and more time with him. By her third year, their study sessions ended up being more kissing than studying, but neither of them seems to mind. 

Leaving Evermore was the hardest thing Thea had ever done because it meant leaving Kevin. “It’ll be alright,” she told herself. “He has Jean.” It seems though, that Jean was not enough.

The news of Kevin’s broken arm shatters Thea’ s heart. No call, no text, no nothing. Thea Muldani gave no fucks about Kevin Day when she first arrived at Evermore, but somewhere down the line, he managed to slip past her defenses. She loves that stupid little prick with her whole heart and now he’s run off to the Foxhole Court. All she can do is sit there and watch the mayhem unfold. She tells herself she doesn’t love him anymore. She tells herself she doesn’t care, but that doesn’t stop her from watching his every game and interview. It doesn’t stop her heart from wrenching when he gets thrown against the glass. It doesn’t stop her from rocketing out of her chair at every one of his impossible goals.

Jean’s flight from the Ravens is the final straw. She needs answers and she needs them now. Seeing Kevin again face to face knocks the breath right out of her. Tears well in his eyes at the sight of her. She tries to pry answers out of him, but he refuses. Instead, he insists on going to see Jean. So they do.

On the way there, he tells her some ludicrous stories about Riko and The Master beating him and breaking his arm. It’s hard to believe, but why would he lie? Seeing Jean confirms Kevin’s stories. Jean’s mottled black and blue, the poor boy. Thea can barely see him through the screen of her tears.

How could she let this happen? How could she not have noticed? She sobs her eyes out, while the two try to comfort her. They insist it’s not her fault. No one else noticed either. It doesn’t ease the pain in her chest. She clutches the two of them close and demands that they promise to tell her these things in the future. They do, but she isn’t entirely convinced. She’ll just have to keep a closer eye on them. She trusts that the Foxes will keep them safe, though, so she leaves the next day.

When finals rolls around, Thea storms into Evermore and takes her seat in the South Tower. There’s nothing she wants more than to wring Riko’s neck, but she knows it’ll do no good. Exy is the only thing he cares about. Tonight, Kevin and his foxes will rip the only thing he loves from him. The thought brought a twisted grin to her face. For once, Thea lets herself cheer for her boy with everything she’s got. She screams and jumps up and down. She violently shakes an old teammate of hers crying “Did you see that? That’s my man!” Kevin might not be able to see her, but she throws herself into cheering for him. When the final buzzer sounds on the Foxes win, she races out of the room. Crushing his body up against her own, she tells him how proud she is of him. She grabs Wymack in a bone-crushing hug as well, thanking him for taking care of Kevin. He smiles at a small fierce smile at her. She sees Kevin’s face in his. She’s glad that he’s Kevin’s father. Telling Wymack as much only serves to widen his smile. 

In a few years, it will be the same smile Kevin flashes at her as they step onto the Olympic Court together. When he hoists Neil onto his shoulders as they stand together on the podium, it’ll be the smile plastered on every t.v. screen. It’ll be the smile Kevin gives his father while giving his speech as Best Man at Wymack and Abby’s wedding and the one he’ll give Amalia when she spews enough history to fill a thousand textbooks. It’ll be the smile he gives her every night before they fall asleep. 

Thea Muldani gave no fucks about Kevin Day when she first arrived at Evermore. Homegirl came to play and play she did. Thea Muldani died the best backliner in the history of exy, second only to Kayleigh Day herself. Thea Muldani played two hundred and seventeen games in the span of her eleven-year career. As she breathes her final breath she holds her granddaughter’s hand. Softly, she says, “Looks like I did have time to be messing with that little stick of a boy.” She closes her rheumy eyes and she can see him waiting for her. She feels a smile tug at her lips when she realizes that his cane has been replaced with an exy racquet. He leans heavily on it as he extends a hand towards her. 

“Come on, Thea. It’s time to go, love.” Thea takes his scarred hand and lets him lean his head against her shoulder. Together, they take the stairs one slow step at a time. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! I've also posted this work to my Tumblr (Side-effect-of-the-meds) so you might see it floating around there. Consider following me on there for more mild angst and tom-foolery! Have a nice life <3


End file.
